1817 



able, a global approach to the complex problem of controlling and 

 ultimately Umiting growth. 



The phenomenon of growth poses a major dilemma for the 21st 

 century. The economic, political, social, cultural, and psycho- 

 logical health of Western society, and increasingly that of all of the 

 world's societies, are tied to growth. The structure and dynamics of 

 human civiHzation are intimately bound up with the phenomenon of 

 growth in many complex ways — as an ethic, in habits of production 

 and consumption, in the spending of time and the flexing of both 

 physical and intellectual muscles, and in the way society is organized. 

 It is difficult to conceive of an end to growth (the achievement of a 

 stable state), much less to predict how it will come about. Yet logic 

 compels recognition that space-consuming human activities cannot 

 infinitely expand within finite space. 



The world's foremost laboratory for the study of growth as a 

 complex problem is Japan: 



A survey of Japan's experiences with environmental disruption, population 

 growth, and diminishing resources casts into sharp relief the problems common 

 to all industrialized and industrializing nations. Moreover, the negative con- 

 sequences of Japan's rapid growth policies may well foreshadow an advanced 

 stage of our planetary predicament. . . . 



The Japanese environment is so riddled with industrial effluent and agricul- 

 tural chemicals that in 1973, the entire population panicked before the threat of a 

 ■nationwide epidemic of "pollution diseases," incurable human disorders resulting 

 from exposure to intense environmental pollution. 



But is it fair to extrapolate from Japan's experiences to throw light on future 

 conditions in other parts of the world? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. For 

 Japan's environmental problems reflect assumptions underlj-ing modem industrial 

 society everywhere. . . . 



Indeed, the economic effectiveness of Japanese patterns of industrial organiza- 

 tion have gained increasing recognition. Many developing nations openly aspire to 

 fashion their own futures after the Japanese blueprint, choosing to cope with 

 pollution control only after a high economic growth rate is achieved. . . .*•* 



ATTEMPTS TO CURE POLLUTION BY REDISTRIBUTION 



The authors just quoted cite numerous specific examples and causes 

 of pollution in Japan and conclude that Japan's political and eco- 

 nomic leaders have come to recognize the need for changes in the 

 industrial system. One proposal under serious study would create a 

 "New New Japan" — "the epitome of an ultramodern post-industrial 

 society" — by replacing high-resource and high-energy- consuming 

 activities located in the Japanese islands with knowledge-intensive, 

 minimal-pollution industries (for example, computers and information 

 processing, communications, and aircraft). Existing industrial in- 

 stallations would be redistributed and emphasis would be placed on 

 developing better parks, playgrounds, sewage and waste-treatment 

 systems, and medical and social services. 



To maintain economic growth and a rising standard of living, 



. . . economic planners propose transferring dirtier industrial production to 

 developing nations eager to emulate Japan's domestic miracle. Thus, the impera- 

 tive need for restructuring Japan's domestic economy is seen to dovetail with 

 the rising economic aspirations of developing nations. The key concept underlying 

 this transformation is the "international division of labor." Over-industrialized, 



♦«» Norie Huddle and Michael Reich with Nahum Stiskin. Island of Dreams: Envhonmental Crisis in 

 ■Japan. (Foreword by Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich, afterword by Ralph Nader.) New York and Tokyo, Autumn 

 iPress, 1975. pp. 22-24. 



